A Cameroonian Court Condemned by Amnesty International

A Cameroonian military court has been criticized by the Rights group Amnesty International after it sentenced three men to 10 years of imprisonment for circulating a disrespectful text message about Boko Haram. The international NGO said that it was clear that there was no respect for the freedom of expression. They also said that Cameroonian military courts should not try civilians.

Fomusoh was arrested on December 13, 2014 after he had forwarded an SMS to his friends containing a joke about the Nigerian militant group. After being held in a police cell in the western city of Douala, Fomusoh was shifted to the counter-terrorism agency in the capital Yaoundé.

Samira Daoud of Amnesty International, in Dakar said, “A judge condemns a person to 10 years in prison on the simple basis of an SMS joke, it is not a terrorist act in view and that Fomusoh and his friends had to denounce it. To make a joke about Boko Haram cannot lead one to serve a 10 year prison sentence. It is imperative that governments wage war against terrorist groups but they should also protect individuals because it is their duty not to trampleon the rights of citizens.”